First Name:
Bailey
Last Name:
Hamrick
Major Department:
Psychology
Thesis Director:
Timothy Huelsman
Date of Thesis:
May 2011
Research on the effects of value fit, a component of person-environment fit, has been 2 conducted in various organizational contexts, including person-person, person-organization, and person-supervisor. This study expands research on the effects of person-person value fit to the academic setting. Researchers hypothesized that a statistically significant proportion of the variance in final course grade would be accounted for by regressing students' final grades on objective student-instructor value fit. One-thousand nine-hundred thirty introductory psychology students and their instructors were surveyed over the span of three semesters. Students self-reported their personal values using the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, 2007), and instructors self-reported their values using the Short Schwartz Value Survey (Lindeman & Verkasalo, 2005). Final grades were recorded at the end of each semester. Researchers found that overall, student-instructor value fit predicts final grade. Furthermore, an examination of results indicated that the prediction of final grade by fit was driven by the values of achievement, stimulation, and universalism. The results of this study indicate that continued research on objective student-instructor value fit in the educational setting is warranted. In particular, future research should examine classroom-specific values in an attempt to advance understanding of fit in organizations.